Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 20: With the political activities intensified in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the state Assembly elections due early next year, the Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged that 151 statues of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar were damaged across 72 districts of Uttar Pradesh during the BJP’s rule while arrests had been made in only 14 cases so far.
Speaking at the party office in Lucknow, he said the figures were based on cases documented by his party and government data on police action. Yadav alleged that the vandalism was deliberate and linked it to the BJP’s alleged attempt to change the Constitution. He said, “Statues of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar have been damaged the most. Under the BJP government, over 151 (Ambedkar statues) have been damaged or vandalised in 72 districts.”
He added, “This was done deliberately because they (the BJP) wanted to change the Constitution but failed to do so. That is why whenever the BJP and those who share its ideology attack, the first thing they target is a hand-held copy of the Constitution.”
Yadav also said the Samajwadi Party had compiled the cases on its own. “In all, we have been able to document 151 cases. If we calculate the average, more than 15 statues were damaged annually under this government. There may be undocumented and uncounted cases too,” he said.
The BJP quickly reacted to Yadav’s charges and targeted the SP chief saying that the former chief minister had panicked because of the respect shown by the saffron party government in the state to the father of the constitution. Uttar Pradesh Minister Anil Rajbhar said the Samajwadi Party was misusing the social media “to create absurd, factless, and baseless reels” to mislead the people, particularly the Dalits.
He claimed that the state government had launched a campaign for the upgrading and beautification of sites associated with Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar that has left Akhilesh’s party in a panic mode. “In every assembly constituency, ten such sites where parks, statues, or memorials have been constructed in Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s name are being decorated, revamped, upgraded, and beautified as part of this campaign initiated by our government. This development has deeply rattled and panicked the Samajwadi Party and its leader, Akhilesh Yadav,” he said.
Mr Yadav, however, cited government figures to substantiate his claim about vandalising Ambedkar’s statues. He pointed out that arrests were made only in 14 cases. In 45 cases, FIRs were registered against unknown persons. In eight cases, named FIRs were lodged. In 84 cases, he said, no action was taken. He alleged that the BJP government neither respected Ambedkar, his statues, nor his people, the dalits.
Later, the Samajwadi Party posted a district-wise break-up on X, citing media reports. It said Ambedkar statues were attacked in Ballia (9); Azamgarh (6); Mathura, Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur (5 each); and Ghazipur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Prayagraj, Lucknow and Varanasi (4 each). The party said two statues were damaged in Gorakhpur, which it placed 21st on the list.
The party also said in 85 per cent of the cases, no police action was initiated against what it called “feudalistic anarchic elements”. It said 46 Ambedkar statues were damaged during the first tenure of the Yogi Adityanath government, while 105 were vandalised during its second term. In its year-wise break-up, the party said four statues were damaged in 2022, 12 in 2023, 13 in 2024, 29 in 2025 and 47 in 2026, as it repeated its charge that police action in such cases had been limited.
Earlier, addressing the party workers, Mr Yadav also said that for the 2027 elections, his party would work to ensure increasing the SP’s votes by at least 27,000 in each Assembly constituency, which would mean that much reduction in the BJP’s vote kitty. For this, Akhilesh said his party would utilise technology and visit people’s residence, ensuring that the Samajwadi Party would secure their justice and dignity. Further, he said Samajwadi Party workers would understand the people’s concerns and issues.
“We held a meeting with party office-bearers today. We all have decided to work towards increasing our vote count by 27,000 in every Assembly Constituency by 2027. In other words, reducing the BJP’s vote count by 27,000.”
Targeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government, Akhilesh said the youth in Uttar Pradesh were dealing with unemployment and no jobs were available for them in the state. People were also deprived of their rights and they were not receiving “reservation benefits,” he alleged, targeting the BJP over paper leaks.
“Paper leaks were also orchestrated so that government jobs wouldn’t have to be provided,” he said, “If paper leaks occurred anywhere in the country, the highest number of them took place in Uttar Pradesh.” “Investment never materialised. Big dreams were sold that investments would come, industries would be set up, and businesses would grow. Yet today, the land remains vacant. Lands were acquired from farmers, but they were neither compensated based on an increased circle rate nor given the fair compensation they deserved,” he said.